Strawberry Seeds
by Elven Moon
Summary: A series of short stories or drabbles starring Helga, Arnold, and a few other lovable characters. *STORY THREE: Clouds*
1. Story One: The Chandelier

The Chandelier

by: Elven Moon

* * *

Something so beautiful that can never be reached.

Helga thought that her life was sort of like that – stuck to the ground while the twinkling aura that the diamonds emitted from that large chandelier loomed above her, several feet from normal human reach. It mocked her. It showed what she could have right to her face, surrounded by the same air, in the same room.

But unless you found a ladder, you were never going to be able to touch it.

How Helga wanted that haunted loveliness, how she wanted that magic. Had anybody ever hated a chandelier? Would they even want to? She didn't know.

It wasn't expensive, just the kind you might find for a room that housed a low budget wedding reception. There to make everything look more high class, but the sounds of DJs blasting the Funky Chicken rather cancelled it out. But it was enough for her.

Was the human race fit to have something like this in the world? Was she fit to see it?

As Helga stood there under that chandelier, she felt somehow recharged, refreshed, and inspired.

Yes, like the timeless chandelier, a better life was still out of her hands. But she knew that if she danced under it long enough, perhaps she could be happy, too.

* * *

**AN:** Short and to the point. I know I still haven't finished "Brick and Mortar" – believe me, I'm working on it – but please enjoy the short little stories to follow (some will be longer than others), to keep my creativity from rusting. Feedback is not required, but it's always appreciated! 


	2. Story Two: Daisies on the Stump

Daisies on the Stump

by Elven Moon

* * *

The stump had always been there, though its age one could not know, unless they judged by weather and wear. On this stump rested barely a handful of yellow daisies. How they'd grown there (perhaps by a miracle, perhaps by some unknown, magical element under the wood) remained a mystery. But they were a testimony in an ever-changing city, a reminder of the nature that struggled to exist among concrete and stone. 

The little girl with the braided, orange hair often came to water them. They listened to her stories, and when the wind blew they seemed to laugh and cry where appropriate. It was a comfort.

And there she would sit, dreaming of a childhood that had barely come to finish.

* * *

**AN:** Who's the girl? It should be obvious :) This was loosely inspired by the movie Jack Frost (as mocked by the wonderful folks from Mystery Science Theater 3000). Feedback is never required but ALWAYS appreciated! 


	3. Story Three: Clouds

Clouds

by: Elven Moon

* * *

Nobody watched the clouds as much as Arnold. To some, it might be seen as some kind of obsession or sickness. But those same people probably believed you had to grow up the minute you were out of diapers. He pitied them.

Maybe that's why the corn haired child was one of the few, bright starred people in the whole of the city. Everybody spent so much time staring at the dull gray ground, the store windows that hadn't been washed since the last presidential election, and the condemned apartment buildings, they just didn't see the cheerful blue above them.

Perhaps Arnold was just that lucky, to have a perfect view of the oversized balls of cotton whenever he did something as simple as lay down to think after school. Arnold was no writer, but if he was, he might describe how softly everything moved, with no cynicism or greed laced on the edges. Just the opposite of what it meant to live in Hillwood. Nature did what it had to, with no politics or laws or red tape to stop it. That was freedom.

Arnold was sure that people could think more like him, that life would be better for all, if only they had a window to the magic as he did. You didn't need to go to a fancy rooftop restaurant and pay 50.00 for the smoked salmon to see it. You didn't need to drive to another state or fly to an exotic country and find the grassiest hill to see it. It was always there, right out in the open, yet sadly hidden from the average eye.

Who is truly the one to be pitied?

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**AN:** Wow, over a year since my last update! Well, I got the writing itch today and had to upload this before I forgot. Hope you've enjoyed :) To note, for some reason Fanfiction dot net won't let the dollar sign show up. Don't know what's up with that, but I thought I'd let you know why it's not there.


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